C The Dragon Lord's Sire

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"It was no trouble at all. I must admit, I rather enjoyed it. It feels good to get one's hands dirty once in a while." Ai Xiang followed Kaipo back into the house. "I'm not terribly hungry, truth be told. I'll eat whatever you're cooking."

[gre-y]

“I love my work,” Kaipo said while beginning to prepare a quick meal. Farming was his true passion. He loved tending to the green plants, having endless quiet fields. It was peaceful, although lonely at times.
Luckily the dragon man swooped in. If and when he decides to leave, Kaipo would be terrible sad to lose a good companion.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"I can certainly see the appeal. Work the land, watch your crops flourish, work up a good sweat. It's honest work. Rewarding. I have a great respect for farmers." Ai Xiang sat back and watched Kaipo as he cooked.

[gre-y]

Kaipo beamed happily as the dragon man explained exactly what it was like to farm. “Yeah, that’s what it’s like!” He tosses together a small meal and serves it to the both of them.
“What kind of work do you do up there?” He points to the sky, genuinely curious.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Ai Xiang stroked his beard in thought. "I am ruler of the Kingdom of Dragons. The Dragon Lord, they call me. Millennia ago, I united the Eastern and Western Dragons, and was crowned ruler of the kingdom we had created by our unification."

[gre-y]

Kaipo listened carefully. “That sounds.. stressful.” He noted. Being the ruler of tons of people and making big decisions? That was difficult sounding.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"Well, more than anything, I think it's lonely." Ai Xiang confessed. "I have no peers, no one I could consider... A friend." Ai Xiang looked away, seemingly ashamed at his situation.

[gre-y]

He was surprised. “Really? You don’t have anyone up there?” He imagined he would have a ton of dragon friends but it seemed to not the case. “What about family?” Kaipo had a father, but he passed away so he took over the farm.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"My family is dead. They've been dead for a very long time..." Ai Xiang looked down solemnly, momentarily consumed by the knowledge that he had no family remaining. "I wasn't always a god. My Family was very much mortal."

[gre-y]

Kaipo hasn’t wanted to pry, but he was curious of his past. “My father passed away a few years ago.” He said softly. His mother died when he was born, so it was just him and his father until he passed away. He got a little testy eyed thinking of his father but he looked away to hide it. It still hurt.

“Were they dragons too?” He asked curiously.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Ai Xiang nodded. "Yes. Everyone is a dragon where I come from. We shift between our two forms as we please. I'm only different in that I'm immortal."

[gre-y]

Kaipo nodded, wondering what it would be like to be a dragon. He thought it would be amazing to fly at will. “Are there other immortal people?” He asked.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

The dragon shook his head. "No, I'm the only one. Once, we dragons were at war with demons, you see, and I attained immortality by stealing the essence of godhood from the demons. I'm the only immortal dragon, but I think we may be far longer-lived than humans are."

[gre-y]

Kaipo listened carefully. He had no idea all of this stuff had been going on and it was a bit scary to think about. It made him feel very small.
"Huh.. interesting.." He was thinking.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

"Of course, back when all of this was going on, I don't think you humans even existed yet. I didn't notice this world until long after I was named Dragon Lord, and even then, this was nothing more than a rock covered in water." Ai Xiang took a moment to remember back to when he had first taken notice of what would become the human world. "Yes, there wasn't even land to stand on, let alone humans."

[gre-y]

He smiled. “So I guess we all popped up in the blink of an eye?” He said. He had finished his food and put his plate to where he could wash it. “Are there other worlds? Or just this one?”
He had a lot of questions.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Ai Xiang thought a moment before responding. "I suppose it's possible. If there are, however, I haven't seen them yet. Not even in their primordial stage, as this place was when I found it."

[gre-y]

Kaipo nodded. He wondered what it would be like to live like Ai Xiang. It sounded awfully lonely. He sretched a bit and stood up. He wasn’t exactly sure what to do with the rest of the day, since his crops were finished being tended to early.

[FweepFwopFwoop]

Ai Xiang was pensive for a moment, allowing the silence to last for a time before he spoke again. "Kaipo, if you don't mind my asking... What is it like to live as a human?"

[gre-y]

He looked up from the silence, quiet for a moment. “Simple.. compared to how you and your people live.” He said. “Lonely sometimes..”